''Laverne and Shirley'' is a {{sitcom}} spun off from ''Series/HappyDays'', centering on two acquaintances of the Fonz who, as the series began, worked at a UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} brewery.

Co-created by Garry Marshall, the show starred his sister Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as her roommate Shirley Feeney. The most popular supporting characters were [[WackyGuy Wacky Guys]] Lenny and Squiggy, played by the underrated Michael [=McKean=] and David Lander; other supporting characters included Laverne's dad Frank (Phil Foster) and Shirley's sometime boyfriend Carmine "The Big Ragu" Ragusa (Eddie Mekka). The series ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1976 to 1983.

----!!This series contains examples of:* AnimatedAdaptation: ''Laverne and Shirley Join the Army'', although on-screen it simply read ''Laverne & Shirley''.* AnnoyingLaugh: ''Laverne''.* ArtifactTitle: Shirley left the cast in the final season. Conversely on the cartoon, Cindy Williams did not return to voice Shirley in season two, replaced by Lynn Marie Stewart.* BathroomStallGraffiti: An early episode has the girls discovering their names and numbers have been written on a men's room wall at a local pool hall. Leading them to [[SweetPollyOliver disguise themselves as guys]] to try removing it.* BerserkButton: Never call Laverne a bimbo.** RealLife Example: Referencing this show when referring to the real Milwaukee has been known to push quite a few of these in Southeast Wisconsin. Milwaukee's Mayor Tom Barrett even quipped upon being elected that one of his main objectives was to let the rest of the world know that "Laverne & Shirley don't live here anymore." Now [[RedLetterMedia Mister Plinkett]] does.* TheCastShowoff: Eddie Mekka (Carmine) got numerous opportunities to show off his singing and dancing skills, sometimes in episodes where he had nothing else to do.** The show had annual talent-show episodes that would give everyone a chance to sing, especially Michael [=McKean=] and David Lander, who wrote and performed their own comedy songs as "Lenny and the Squigtones."* ChainLetter: An episode has Laverne enduring a spell of bad luck after throwing one of these away.* CharacterizationMarchesOn: When the two first appeared on ''HappyDays'' there was very little difference between Laverne and Shirley. For this series, though, Laverne was made more of a tomboy and Shirley a girly girl.* ChristmasEpisode* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The girls' Milwaukee Landlady Edna, later Laverne's stepmother, just kind of vanished sometime after their move out to California.* CommutingOnABus: Michael [=McKean=] didn't appear in many episodes of the final season, as he was busy preparing ''ThisIsSpinalTap''. With Squiggy appearing alone in many episodes and Shirley gone from the show entirely, some joked that it should have been re-titled "Laverne and Squiggy."* CordonBleughChef: Laverne liked drinking a mix of Pepsi and milk together in the same glass.* CrossOver: With its parent program ''Series/HappyDays''.** Laverne appears with ''Happy Days''' Fonzie in the ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' pilot.* DeathRow: Laverne somehow winds up there in a season 8 episode. [[spoiler:She's eventually exonerated.]]* DiagonalBilling: Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams in the opening titles.* DropInCharacter: Lenny and Squiggy.* TheFifties / TheSixties: With TheSeventies and [[TheEighties Eighties]] often [[AnachronismStew bleeding through]].* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five-Temperament Ensemble]]: Lenny (melancholic/phlegmatic), Shirley (phlegmatic/sanguine), Laverne (choleric), Frank (melancholic), Edna (phlegmatic), Squiggy (sanguine), and Carmine (leukine).* GirlsLoveStuffedAnimals: Shirley's beloved "Boo Boo Kitty".* GrievousBottleyHarm: Subverted in a scene involving many prop bottles and one real glass bottle.* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The girls' boss at the brewery, Mr. Shotz, was never seen in person, always speaking to them and other employees from offstage, usually through a photo of himself or, if he had a more important part in the episode, something that obscured him, like a spotlight. * HeterosexualLifePartners: A rare female example.** Lenny and Squiggy.* HypnoFool: In one episode, the duo find themselves acting like chickens every time a bell rings.* InadvertentEntranceCue: Lenny and Squiggy were the undisputed champions of this.* IncomingHam: Squiggy must think that "Haalloooooooow!" is some sort of mating call.* IrrevocableMessage: A two-part episode ("The Bardwell's Caper") involved the duo trying to retrieve a nasty letter they had written to their boss.* ItsAWonderfulPlot: "Laverne's Broken Leg"* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Lenny and Squiggy. More "jerk" in Squiggy, more "heart of gold" in Lenny.* KnifeThrowingAct* LocalHangout: The Pizza Bowl (when the show was set in Milwaukee) and Cowboy Bill's (during the Los Angeles years). Laverne's dad ran both establishments.* MsFanservice: Rhonda (Leslie Easterbrook), a sexy blonde added as a ratings-boosting gimmick when the show moved to L.A.** To some extent Laverne herself became this in the final season.* NewYearHasCome: A season 3 episode has the girls welcoming in 1960.* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Nearly the entire cast. One would think Milwaukee was located just outside of Brooklyn.** Justified with Laverne and her father: they grew up in New York.* PantyShot: Shirley in the cartoon, which had her and Laverne as cheerleaders in a football game in an episode. She drops to the ground doing a split and her skirt goes up.* PlanningWithProps: In "The Bardwell's Caper", Laverne and Shirley planning to get a nasty letter out of their boss' office.* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Inverted. The real Milwaukee of the 1950s was in the midst of a mass-migration of African-Americans who came (and often were recruited) specifically to work at the city's breweries. Yet despite the titular characters working at a brewery (and the show's creation [[TheSeventies at a time]] when [[TokenMinority interracial casts]] were en vogue), the show featured no African-American characters.* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The final episode is actually one of these, following Carmine as he moves to New York to pursue a Broadway career and auditions for ''Theatre/{{Hair}}''. A very odd way to end the series, and what's more we [[LeftHanging never do learn]] whether he lands the role.* PresentDayPast* PutOnABus: The last season had Shirley marrying an Army medic and going overseas with him.* RequiredSpinoffCrossover: With ''HappyDays''.* ReTool: When the duo moved from Milwaukee to Los Angeles.* ReunionShow: Two of them, in 1995 and 2002. The second one included an in-character skit.* RupturedAppendix: "Shirley's Operation."* ShoutOut: The opening credits were spoofed by Wayne and Garth in ''WaynesWorld''.* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: To levels that only Creator/LucilleBall matched.* SyndicationTitle: ''Laverne and Shirley and Friends'', ''Laverne and Shirley and Company''.** ProtagonistAndFriends* ThematicThemeTune: "Making Our Dreams Come True". The song, performed by Cyndi Grecco, was issued as a single and reached #25 on the ''Billboard'' chart.* ThirdPersonPerson: Rhonda* ThoseTwoGuys: Lenny and Squiggy.* ThrillerOnTheExpress: "Murder on the Moosejaw Express."* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Laverne is a tough-talking girl who prefers her men the same way, while on the other hand, Shirley is about as girly as a girl can get.* UnfoldingPlanMontage: In one episode, Laverne outlines a plan to break into an office and steal back some important papers. As she explains it, we see the plan in action, which they pull off perfectly. Then it turns out it was just a visual depiction of the plan being described. Once they implement the plan it goes awry and HilarityEnsues.* WackyGuy: Two of them, Lenny and Squiggy.* YiddishAsASecondLanguage: From the opening credits:-->One, two, three, four, \\Five, six, seven, eight, \\[[TheMillstone Schlemiel]], [[ButtMonkey schlimazel]], \\[[BugsBunny Hassenpfeffer]] incorporated!** Not too far fetched, quite a few Jews live in the Milwaukee area.* YourFavorite: For Laverne - Milk and Pepsi. Together.** TruthInTelevision for Penny Marshall.----